Genetic Modification of Human Embryos: Limits

Abstract

The article analyses the moral justification of human germline editing and the tendency to its legalization. The study is based on documents of international organizations, such as the World Health Organization (WHO), national bioethics committees and others that regulate the usage of technologies for human germline editing or issue related recommendations. The paper an­alyzes the impact of the introduction of new technologies on human germline editing recom­mendations. It is concluded that that the development of biotechnologies contributes to lib­eral attitude towards human germline editing, slowly canceling the technologies’ usage ban firstly for therapeutic purposes, and then for the human enhancement purposes. The article suggests that the development of biotechnologies makes it difficult to apply the old bioethics principles; and exacerbates the discussion about the boundaries of the new biotechnologies’ application. Despite the shock and condemnation of the first experiments that violate ban (as in the cases with CRISPR/Cas9 in 2015 and 2018 in China), the scientific community, international organizations and governments return to the issue concerning gene editing technologies limitation. The inability to be guided by the old bioethics principles forces to look for new ethical grounds for gene editing. Now old principles and values are applied with utilitarian approach in ethics, that cancel ban and raises the issue of human germline editing limitation. The article also describes the limits of permissible interventions in the is­sue of human germline editing at the end of 2021.